My Turn: So what is a caliphate?

By Jean Warrick

Published: Monday, July 28, 2014 at 05:42 PM.

With much current talk of a terrorist Islamic caliphate state possibly resulting from the rise of the militant ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) terror army in Iraq, we need to know what a caliphate is. This militant group, said to be much worse than Al-Qaeda has taken over much of northern Iraq and along the Syrian border. So what is a caliphate? And what is a caliph?

A caliphate is the land ruled by a caliph, and a caliph is the supreme ruler, the title taken by Muhammad’s successors as secular and religious heads of Islam. A bit of Islamic history is helpful in understanding the background for a caliphate.

Mohammed was born in 570 A.D. in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) into a prominent Arabian tribe at a barbaric time in Arabia where stones and many gods were worshipped. He was apparently a well-meaning man who was greatly disturbed by the paganism and evil in the Arabian part of the world.

Abraham and his son, Ishmael, are claimed as ancestors of the Arabs, and Abraham and his son, Isaac, are claimed as ancestors of the Jews, and, of course, there has been enmity between the Jews and the Arabs since the days of Abraham’s two sons. Although the roots of Muhammad’s religious beliefs go back to the god of the Israelites or Jews, the beliefs of Islam are quite different from that of the Israelites.

At 25, Muhammad married a wealthy widow and spent much time alone in meditation and fasting. At 40, he began having visions and said that God had commanded him to be a messenger. He declared that the Angel Gabriel gave him the precise words and final message of God regarding how man should conduct the whole spectrum of his life. All this was set down later in the Quran. (Since he was illiterate, it would have been necessary for a scribe to write the words given to him.) Muhammad declared that God had called him to make war against non-believers, and this was the beginning of the militant and evangelistic religion of Islam.

His preaching angered the merchants of Mecca and their pocketbooks, and he was forced to flee Mecca in 622 A.D. But he secured leadership in Medina, built the world’s first mosque, and after several bloody victories, he returned to Mecca in 630 A.D. leading an army of 10,000. Mecca surrendered without a fight. He established Islam as the religion of all Arabia and was responsible for the rapid spread of Islam in that part of the world.

Muhammad died in 632 A.D. and Abu Bakr became his successor and the first caliph. Caliph Omar was the second successor and Othman was the third caliph. Othman was murdered and his son-in-law, Ali, was elected in Medina to be the forth Caliph. But Muawiya, the powerful governor of Syria, challenged Ali’s succession. Ali moved his capital to Iraq, and for the first time Muslims lifted their swords against Muslims, causing the first rift in their faith which still exists today.

With much current talk of a terrorist Islamic caliphate state possibly resulting from the rise of the militant ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) terror army in Iraq, we need to know what a caliphate is. This militant group, said to be much worse than Al-Qaeda has taken over much of northern Iraq and along the Syrian border. So what is a caliphate? And what is a caliph?

A caliphate is the land ruled by a caliph, and a caliph is the supreme ruler, the title taken by Muhammad’s successors as secular and religious heads of Islam. A bit of Islamic history is helpful in understanding the background for a caliphate.

Mohammed was born in 570 A.D. in Mecca (Saudi Arabia) into a prominent Arabian tribe at a barbaric time in Arabia where stones and many gods were worshipped. He was apparently a well-meaning man who was greatly disturbed by the paganism and evil in the Arabian part of the world.

Abraham and his son, Ishmael, are claimed as ancestors of the Arabs, and Abraham and his son, Isaac, are claimed as ancestors of the Jews, and, of course, there has been enmity between the Jews and the Arabs since the days of Abraham’s two sons. Although the roots of Muhammad’s religious beliefs go back to the god of the Israelites or Jews, the beliefs of Islam are quite different from that of the Israelites.

At 25, Muhammad married a wealthy widow and spent much time alone in meditation and fasting. At 40, he began having visions and said that God had commanded him to be a messenger. He declared that the Angel Gabriel gave him the precise words and final message of God regarding how man should conduct the whole spectrum of his life. All this was set down later in the Quran. (Since he was illiterate, it would have been necessary for a scribe to write the words given to him.) Muhammad declared that God had called him to make war against non-believers, and this was the beginning of the militant and evangelistic religion of Islam.

His preaching angered the merchants of Mecca and their pocketbooks, and he was forced to flee Mecca in 622 A.D. But he secured leadership in Medina, built the world’s first mosque, and after several bloody victories, he returned to Mecca in 630 A.D. leading an army of 10,000. Mecca surrendered without a fight. He established Islam as the religion of all Arabia and was responsible for the rapid spread of Islam in that part of the world.

Muhammad died in 632 A.D. and Abu Bakr became his successor and the first caliph. Caliph Omar was the second successor and Othman was the third caliph. Othman was murdered and his son-in-law, Ali, was elected in Medina to be the forth Caliph. But Muawiya, the powerful governor of Syria, challenged Ali’s succession. Ali moved his capital to Iraq, and for the first time Muslims lifted their swords against Muslims, causing the first rift in their faith which still exists today.

Ali died from an assassin’s sword, and Muawiya emerged as Caliph. His dynasty ruled for nearly a century, and his followers who are called Sunis are the overwhelming majority of Muslims. Followers of Ali are called Shiites and still command the allegiance of about 10% of the Muslim world. The Sunnis have tended to be more peaceful while the fanatical fringe is usually associated with the Shiites.

This rift between the two sects of Islam still exists today and has been a large factor in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both sects believe a final caliph will arise in the last days and hope he will come from their particular sect. The fact that the ISIS army has taken over so much of Iraq and has a large, well-equipped army has led to concern about the establishment of a terrorist caliphate state, a land ruled by a caliph and the long hoped for arrival of a final caliph. The creation of a terrorist caliphate state would be considered a great victory by the militant Islamists.